BPI urges SMEs to go digital

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is urging small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to go digital to have greater chances of surviving  amid the   COVID-19 pandemic.

Eric Luchangco, head of business banking at BPI, said SMEs need to cope with a vastly different business environment that favors contactless payments and changing consumer behaviors.

“The time is ripe for SMEs to transform their operations and their businesses by embracing digital payments. It is the low-hanging fruit in their digital transformation that will make a great impact on them later on as they stabilize their operations and, in time, when the world is finally free from the pandemic,” he said.

With the use of technology, SMEs could utilize electronic cash management tools to enable improved collection efficiency, payment handling and liquidity management.

Digital payment also allows entrepreneurs to fulfill their financial activities safely, even on-the-go, at any given time.

In a webinar titled “BizTalk Online: Maximizing Technology Toward the New Reality,” BPI Luzon sales head for cash management Gerry Kahayon said banks have tools to make things easier, seamless, and convenient for SMEs and their customers during this period of quarantine.

Kahayon said BPI offers cash management solutions for collections, disbursements and liquidity.

“A cash management system reduces cash handling risks such as inaccurate payments and fraudulent activities, as well as limits any physical interaction, saves time, and lowers administrative costs, among others,” Kahayon said.

BPI’s platform for online business banking, BizLink, has features that streamline time-consuming processes, leaving SMEs to do what they do best in growing their businesses.

It allows SMEs to view their transactions, download their bank statements, collect from their customers, and make payments by transferring funds to other accounts online.

BizLink allows businesses to collect from their customers via an auto-debit arrangement or bills collection online, and make payroll disbursements through their employees’ debit card accounts.